REVIEW: Remember my Name by Sam Blake

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Remember My Name by Sam Blake
Published by Corvus on January 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781838952969
Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thrillers, Psychological, Suspense
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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If she'd turned off her phone, instead of listening in, perhaps no one would have died...
When Cressida Howard catches her entrepreneur husband playing away from home, she hires security expert Brioni O'Brien to get the evidence she needs for a speedy and financially rewarding divorce.
But what Brioni uncovers goes beyond simple infidelity. Because Laurence Howard is also in bed with some very dangerous people. Bribery and blackmail are the least of his worries as someone comes after the women in his life - someone who is out to destroy Laurence and his empire, whatever the cost.
And Cressida and her teenage daughter could soon be collateral damage, if she and Brioni don't act fast.

I have a soft spot for Irish psychological thrillers. The atmosphere, threat, and gothic feel of its landscape has me like a moth to the flame. Remember my Name is no different. It quickly becomes clear that the reader is dealing with a giant sticky spider web of emotions and deceit. Just how much do we know the person we willingly give our hearts and souls to? Sam Blake weaves a web so delicate, so precise that the plots and subplots expertly fall into place in the exact moment they should. Trust in her craft, the clock Is ticking, and you can feel the wrought anxiety in the character’s reactions.

Remember my Name features characters that quite frankly boiled my piss. Laurence Howard is a hugely successful entrepreneur who has enabled his family to have an extremely privileged lifestyle. Think large country mansions, Italian villas, flash cars, and more money in the bank than God. His wife, Cressida, has recently set up private practice in speech and language therapy. She’s struggling in her marriage; Laurence spends more time at work than at home and she’s had her suspicions about extracurricular activities for some time now. However, when her husband doesn’t hang up after a phone call, her suspicions grow feet, and she realises she was right all along.

Overhearing the interaction through Cressida’s eyes and ears made me want to blow a fuse. Why do some men think they are entitled to behave in abhorrent ways and never even entertain the thought of consequences, all because money makes them feel powerful?

So now that she has proof of some kind, she plans on nailing him to the wall. She needs absolute concrete proof that he’s been unfaithful to her, and she enlists the help of her friend’s sister, Brioni O’Brien. She quickly gets to work and finds that things are far deeper and more sinister than the two women could have ever envisioned.

Remember my Name excels at giving details and still leaving you confused, the characters get more embroiled – attempted murders, murders, and sophisticated hacking brings multiple strands to life in glorious technicolour. The author brought all the elements of a psychological thriller that I enjoy and left scattered clues down an abandoned alleyway – I wanted to follow it but could I trust it?

Remember my Name sustains the suspense and Sam Blake expertly stokes the fires of mystery. The author wrings out everything from this story and I got so much more than I bargained for!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Blake is the No 1 bestselling author of the Cat Connolly Garda police trilogy (Bonnier), and thriller standalones Keep Your Eyes on Me and The Dark Room and Remember My Name (Corvus Books). 

Across her books she has been an Irish Times No 1 for 7 weeks, an Eason No 1 bestseller for 10 weeks, in the Irish top ten for 28 weeks and has outsold Graham Norton (briefly!) Both her first novel Little Bones and The Dark Room were shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year (2016 & 2021). Rights enquiries to Simon Trewin   

Sam Blake*  is originally from St. Albans in Hertfordshire but has lived at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland for more years than she lived in the UK. Married to a retired member of An Garda Siochana she has two children, three cats and had sole responsibility for an ant farm while her eldest was in university in Swansea (learning to build rockets). The ants were definitely preferable to the 3000 blue bottles bred for the degree thesis, but that resulted in a first in Aerospace Engineering, and proof that at least one person in the family can add up. 

*Sam Blake herself is a character from the imagination of Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin who is the founder of the multi award winning writing resources website Writing.ie, The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy and is the founder of Murder One, Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival.  Vanessa is a board member of the Society of Authors, led by Chair Joanne Harris, the UK based trade union that campaigns and lobbies at government level on issues that affect authors. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) – notable past fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, William Hogarth and Tim Berners-Lee. A past chair of Irish PEN, she is the convenor of the Irish Chapter of the Crime Writers Association and has recently joined the CWA board.

Sam’s ‘Behind the Bestseller’ podcast via Headstuff.org is available on all platforms.

She has to hide to get any writing done, but it’s her passion.

Sam has been writing fiction since her husband set sail across the Atlantic for eight weeks and she had an idea for a book.

Many hundreds of thousands of words later (and five draft manuscripts of varying quality) her debut  Little Bones hit the bookshelves in Ireland in May 2016, and in the UK in February 2017.  The first of a trilogy with Bonnier’s exciting new  fiction imprint,  Little Bones introduced the feisty Cathy Connolly, a 20-something Dublin cop and kickboxing champion. The novel begins with a horrifying discovery after what seems like a routine break-in – a baby’s bones hidden in the hem of a wedding dress.

‘Connolly, for whom the word “gutsy” might have been invented, is a terrific character . . . a compelling debut; the author keeps her complex storyline going all the way to its incredible ending’    Sunday Independent

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